Doctor at War: The Underworld Sleeps
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: Selene finds a very unexpected presence in William's prison


Disclaimer: I own nothing; you know the drill.

Feedback: Feel free

AN: My second story in my series of the War Doctor's efforts to contain the Time War; as always, suggestions for future plots are appreciated

Doctor at War: The Underworld Sleeps

As Selene entered the fortress, her weapons raised and the Cleaners behind her, she wasn't sure what she was hoping for most at this point; to kill Marcus, or for him to kill her.

She wanted to stop his insane rampage, but with her entire coven destroyed and Michael dead, she'd lost virtually everything she'd been fighting for in one night; the fact that she'd eliminated Viktor herself made it easier to accept, but without the prospect of a future with Michael, there was very little to actually enjoy. Did she want to defeat Marcus in order to protect the world, or did she just want to go up against an unstoppable enemy so that she could earn a warrior's death…

It was only when she took in the shattered remnants of her father's greatest achievement that she realised that she would never have to learn the answer. Marcus was lying on the ground in the middle of a pool of water, with a large hole in his head and a similar wound where his heart should have been, both wounds smoking as though they had been recently inflicted by something of exceptional heat.

Making sure that her weapons were ready, Selene leapt down to examine the body more closely, but a brief glance was all she needed to confirm that the original vampire was down for good; the hole in his chest had seriously damaged his heart, and his brain had clearly been destroyed by the other blast. Looking around the prison, she saw a path leading off to the side, indicating that the Cleaners should stay back while she went down the path to investigate, but a brief search revealed that there was nothing there apart from the corpse of a large white lycan, in the same condition as Marcus.

"They won't be getting back up," a voice said solemnly.

Turning around, Selene was shocked to find herself looking at an older man in a leather jacket and dark boots, with a bombardier's belt under his jacket and a greying goatee beard that gave the impression he regularly made a rushed job when circumstances required him to do any kind of personal grooming. He was holding a long thick gun of a make that she didn't recognise, but the design put her in mind of something that she had seen on film posters set in the future; she didn't have time for entertainment herself, but she had seen a lot of things on assorted hunts.

"Who-?" she began in confusion.

"Just a soldier dealing with a loose end," the man replied, slinging the gun over his shoulder as he stared at her. "On the topic of things getting back up, you'll find that Mr Corvin should be all right soon enough; hybrid physiology is far more robust than you could have imagined."

"Michael's alive?" Selene said, too stunned at the original statement to question how this man could know anything about a species that had only come into existence a few days ago. "He was stabbed through the _heart_-!"

"But it's still intact, and that's all that's needed for him to recuperate," the man clarified, patting his gun with a grim smile. "Unlike with the Corvinus brothers; this weapon eliminated the brain and heart quite thoroughly, I assure you."

"Why would you do this?" Selene asked, looking at the old man in confusion after taking a last look at the large werewolf that had to be William Corvinus. "Who are you?"

"Just a soldier taking steps to end another bloody war," the old man said, shaking his head before looking grimly at her. "You should get back to civilisation as quickly as possible; if someone doesn't take charge of the two species soon, potential exposure could be a problem…"

"Exposure?" Selene repeated, before she realised what he was saying. "You mean… without Lucian and the Elders to keep control, we really would be exposed?"

"If you believe that would be bad, it would have been worse if the Cleaners had fallen now," the old man said, looking at her with a solemn stare. "They might be only human, but they've had experience at keeping your little conflict secret; with their assistance, and your own ties to their former leaders, you and Mr Corvin should be able to maintain the status quo."

"I'll… do my best," Selene said, nodding in acknowledgement of the old man's words, his absolute belief in what he was saying preventing her initial desire to lash out at the idea of their war being 'petty'.

She was well aware that politics wasn't her greatest strength, but with the Cleaners' expertise to help, her own ties to Viktor and Alexander Corvinus- as much as she disliked both men right now- and Michael's greater awareness of the modern world, they should have a chance to make the right impression on the two species…

"Good," the man said, smiling at her once again. "As I said, just give Mr Corvin a few minutes, and he'll be fine; in the meantime, I must be off."

"Off?" Selene repeated, as the strange man turned around and walked around a corner deeper into the cell that had held William for so many centuries. For a moment, Selene tried to figure out who he was and where he might have come from, until a strange groaning sound reminded her that finding him now was more important. Hurrying forward, Selene looked around the corner, but the only thing she saw was a strange blue box, the light on top of it glowing as it faded from view, leaving no trace that it had ever been there.

Lost for anything else to do in the face of this unusual turn of events, Selene simply stared at where the box had been for a moment before she turned around to look for the Cleaners; from what she could hear, they'd spent some time staking out the area to search for any other lycans, werewolves or vampires while allowing her to take point as she searched for their main target.

She had no idea what had just happened, but Marcus and William were dead and the threat they posed to the world was ended; by any definition, she would consider that a win…

Remembering the strange man's words about Michael, Selene re-holstered her weapons and hurried back through the passage, smiling in relief as she heard the faint but recognisable sound of Michael's hybrid roar.

She didn't know how it had happened, but for once, she was going to hope for the future and plan accordingly, rather than simply reacting to the latest threat…

* * *

AN 2: In this case, I assumed that part of the reason for the events of the fourth movie as lycans and vampires were exposed was due to nobody stepping forward to take charge of both sides in time to keep them quiet, particularly after the destruction of the Cleaners; with the Cleaners still intact and Selene and Michael available to lead the two races through their connections to Viktor and Lucian respectively, _Awakening _should now have been neatly averted.


End file.
